Training Ends

Over the next hour, Ryosuke successively recorded several B-rank or higher ninjutsu, some of which he had never even heard of before.

Yet, faced with this situation, Shisui remained as relaxed as ever, not even bothering to activate his Sharingan.

In the end, it was Sanhe who could no longer hold on.

His chakra had been completely exhausted.

"This won't work. If we keep going like this, we'll only be more passive. Miyuki, we need to think of a way."

Sanhe was panting like an ox, sweat pouring down his face, and he could no longer even maintain his Sharingan.

Miyuki's expression was also looking quite grim by now, having lost the composure she had at the start.

She then looked over toward Ryosuke, who was currently eating a bento.

That's right, Ryosuke had actually dug out three bento boxes from beneath a wooden stake, and he had already finished the first one and was just about to start on the second.

"Ryosuke-kun, we are a team; we need your help."

"Why are you asking him?" Although Sanhe was in a sorry state, he clearly wasn't willing to do so.

Shisui, on the other hand, stood there with his arms crossed, watching the scene without interfering.

"Because he's the only one who got the bells, you idiot."

Although Miyuki didn't want to admit it, it was the truth.

Ryosuke was younger than them, but his strength seemed greater, and more importantly, he had already obtained the bells.

"Huh?"

Ryosuke was just about to eat his second bento.

Hearing Miyuki's words, he felt a bit awkward.

"Sure, I can."

Ryosuke stood up and said.

"It's that easy?" Sanhe retorted.

"Of course not."

"Then what are your conditions?" Miyuki asked.

"I can help you, but these two bento boxes will serve as payment. Helping for free isn't my habit."

Ryosuke pointed to the two bento boxes beside him.

"Just like that?" Sanhe rolled his eyes, having expected him to ask for something else.

Miyuki was also left between laughter and tears; she had expected Ryosuke to say something like, "You all owe me a favor."

A favor, for a ninja—especially one from the Uchiha clan—was almost equivalent to a life.

"Just like that."

Ryosuke nodded with a serious expression.

"I agree."

Miyuki nodded as well.

Ryosuke patted his stomach, stretched, and then walked over to the two of them.

"What do you plan to do?"

Miyuki glanced at Shisui and then whispered to Ryosuke.

"You two provide a feint, and leave the rest to me."

As he spoke, he handed his ninja tools to Sanhe and gave Miyuki a Military Ration Pill.

"This is?" Miyuki stared at the Military Ration Pill in her hand, stunned.

"Your chakra is running low too, right? But the main event is coming up next. The outcome will depend on how well you two cooperate."

After Ryosuke finished speaking, he formed hand seals: "Multi-Shadow Clone Technique."

Poof, poof, poof.

Over twenty Ryosukes appeared beside him.

This was the limit of what he could achieve after pouring all his experience into increasing his chakra capacity.

Compared to someone like Naruto, who could easily summon two thousand shadow clones, this was nothing.

But it still gave Sanhe quite a shock.

"You actually know the Shadow Clone Technique?"

Although the Shadow Clone Technique wasn't much to a Jonin, it was still on the threshold of being an S-rank ninjutsu.

Ryosuke ignored him and bent down: "It's starting."

"Fire Style: Dance of the Fire Phoenix!"

Miyuki launched her ninjutsu first, this time using her widest-range technique.

The entire training ground had turned into a sea of flames.

Ryosuke and his Shadow Clone Technique rushed toward Shisui together.

The corners of Shisui's mouth curled up; this was the scene he had been hoping to see.

However, his movements did not slow down. Several water dragons rose up around him, gradually suppressing the fire.

At this moment, Sanhe also made his move.

Countless kunai flew toward Shisui.

Shisui dodged sideways, but immediately noticed that these kunai were attached to Explosive Tags.

"Body Flicker Technique!"

Shisui vanished from his spot.

"Sonido!"

Ryosuke locked onto Shisui's position through Pesquisa and used Sonido to follow him.

But Shisui turned around and kicked him away with a single strike.

With a bang, it turned out to be a Shadow Clone.

Shisui revealed a hint of surprise, then activated his Sharingan.

It was only then that he realized something was wrong.

The kunai scattered on the ground actually possessed the characteristics of chakra.

Could it be?

Sure enough, the next moment, all the kunai on the ground transformed into Ryosuke.

"Shadow Clone combined with Transformation Technique? A bit creative, but not by much."

Shisui leaped into the air, his body spinning as he fired off countless kunai.

All of Ryosuke's Shadow Clones were struck.

By this time, the fire in the training ground had been completely extinguished.

"Is it still not enough? I told you, that guy is completely useless," Sanhe said, kneeling on one knee and biting his lip.

Miyuki's face turned increasingly pale.

"There's no helping it. Our opponent is 'Body Flicker' Shisui, after all. He is the person in our clan closest to that man."

Sanhe fell silent; he naturally knew who Miyuki meant by "that man."

"Are you giving up just like that? I only wanted to tell you that on a real battlefield, life and death are not determined solely by who knows more ninjutsu. What you need to learn is coordination and unity."

Shisui spoke in a lecturing tone.

"What about that guy? He didn't run away, did he?" Sanhe glanced around and suddenly noticed Ryosuke behind a wooden post.

"What are you hiding there for?"

"Huh?" Ryosuke poked his head out from behind the post, a grain of rice still on the corner of his mouth.

"He's stealing our bento!" Sanhe roared.

"Didn't you guys say you were giving the bento to me?" Ryosuke retorted.

"That was on the condition that you help us get the bells!" Sanhe was even more furious.

Ryosuke shook his head helplessly and tossed the two bells in his hand over to them.

Now it was the remaining three's turn to be silent.

Shisui was even more astonished as he looked down at his waist.

It was only then that he discovered that, at some unknown point, the two bells on his waist had been replaced by two stones.

"Substitution Technique? When?"

"How did he do that?" Sanhe asked in surprise, staring at the bells on the ground.

Miyuki shook her head. "I didn't notice either. It seems he really is stronger than us, and by a lot—perhaps not even much weaker than our teacher."

"It can't be that exaggerated, can it? He's only eight years old," Sanhe said, even more shocked by Miyuki's words.

Miyuki did not answer him this time.

Ryosuke finally finished both bentos, then patted his stomach as he walked out.

"These bentos weren't cheap, right? Teacher Shisui, thank you for the treat."

"You all did very well this time," Shisui said with a smile, though there was a hint of helplessness in it.

"Teacher, can this training session end early?" Ryosuke asked.

Shisui nodded.

The three of them cheered in unison.

"Let's go eat barbecue today, my treat!" Sanhe shouted before running off in the direction of the village.

As Ryosuke passed by Shisui, he whispered, "Teacher Shisui, it was the shadows."